And we are back with another chapter of CRT!
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy, about to start my internship, so I haven't really got around to write the chapters. I've been putting them in topics so I'll be faster at organizing and writing them, but not really writing them...
Okay, onwards towards the reviews!
mirrorthatreflec -"If Storms don't have Sky flames, and other flame users don't usually have multiple flames, then how did Natsu get the rain and sky flames? *runs in circles trying to chase questions down* Great chapter!"
My response: Natsushi has Temporale flames (who are a mix of Cloud, Rain and Thunder flames) and Sky flames. His Sky flames are unrelated to his Temporale abilities, and are going to be explained later on.
Other flame user might have different wavelenghts and utilize different flames but they do not have 'automatically' different flame types. Xanxus has Wrath Flames (a mix of sky and storm) but again that is not something everyone has.
Not saying no one else uses different flames, they just weren't born with multiple flames.
And like I've said before, Storm flames (capital S) are mixes that can never be separated and they usually don't really learn how to use any other flame type, since it tends to clash with their natural abilities, that being said when they speak of Storms' flame elements they are not meaning different flames.
AoBara -"... And That's it..Natsushi sinally remembered *sigh*... Guess this at least helps him (a lot)..Though changing the future...I sense canon divergence people! but not too much(hopefully...I couldn't bare the thought of Kyoya belonging a sky other than Tsuna...sorry Natsu)..
Thanks for the quick update. U literally ran away after my tutions finished to read the story."
My response: Yup, Natsushi has remembered, and is internally freaking out about it, and it will help him but also impair his judgement. Because he could potentially cause mass hysteria if he were to slip up and reveal to anyone his whole knowledge of Vongola and mafia. And yes, we are nearing the point of canon divergence, it will change a bit... We won't see much of Tsuna's and canon's side of things as we'll be seeing everything through Natsushi's eyes, and the last thing Natsu wants is to be around Vongola people.
Kyoya... Huh, it's complicated. Thanks for the review!
Prince -"I was going to say it'd be cute if Hugh was reborn as Vasco, but you said don't like him... I feel EXTREMEly suspicious of you! :o Damnit, why did I tear up when Natsu started crying? i doNT HAVE ANY REASON TO!? The voices are such trolls, lmao. The one with the accent needs to man up and do his f*** job" "i'LL WAIT FOREVER, MY FRIEND. TAKE YOUR TIME!"
My response: Oh, good god, No! My poor Vasco! No, Hugh... Hugh is like an annoying fly. It pisses you off but then you can't really get mad at it because it's so stupid it can't avoid hitting the window even if fully opened.
Natsu is surprisingly capable of making us tear up, we've all been there. (It gets worse when you're the one planning the story and you can imagine his puppy eyes pleading me for mercy).
Oh, the voices... It's in their nature to be trolls. It can be hard to do their job, they've been doing this for a while (like for a really, really long time) and to see (and remember) every single Temporale and their fate, seeing them get younger and younger with each generation it breaks a little of their confidence.
Especially once they start learning more about flames, canon spoke of it and if not there's a ton of fanfics that touch on this topic, once you activate your flames it creates a signal that leads back to you, like a beacon.
If you were to run into some mafia personnel that sensed your flames you'd be either recruited or killed, depending on your age or if you had any previous mafia association. To the voices, starting to talk more about this topic is like closing the door on th Temporales' childhood.
There's no going back.
Thank you!
Ashley -"I thank you for your hard work! I love the KHR story cause it's actually something that I will read over and over again. Hope for an update soon. ;)"
My response: Thank you for your review, glad you liked the story. Here's an update for ya!
Madness-Is-Insanity -"Thanks for the awesome update like always. This chapter made me laugh at some parts and cry when Natsu cried. The voices are such trolls. Their great and remind me of my friends that would say the same. Can't wait to read about the destruction that they will cause." "Don't worry. I will wait patiently for the next update. Keep up the good work."
My response: Oh, you won't have to wait for long. Part II is a fairly small part of the story, being compromised more of time-skips and character development than actual chapters with plot. Sure there's a lot that's going to be revealed but not that much compared to Part III.
Thank you for your review!
AriusGrey -"ohhh I'm so excited about this story. Looking forward to the next updates. What's the deal with the sky flames? When will Natsu meet tsuna? Could Natsu's sky flame's release the lock on tsuna's sky flames? Super curious..."
My response: Thank you for your review, great name btw, next updates will hopefully be coming soon. Aah~ Sky flames to be explained soon. Natsu has, technically, already met Tsuna, twice. And had he not remembered KHR he might've approached the kid at some point, now?
Ah, Natsu will tell every Storm to avoid Tsuna like a plague, because if they are seen close to him then Vongola spies might pick up on them. And no, I can safely say Natsu's flames could not release Tsuna's lock on power. That lock can only be broken by the Dying Will Bullet (like Reborn does) or by the natural erosion of the hosts' flames.
Besides, like I previously said, Natsu won't go anywhere near Tsuna.
LillianBlake -"Wait, what about Gokudera doesn't he have multiple flames AND can use all of them? Though his primarily storm flame."
My response: Gokudera has multiple flame wavelenghts, and he can only use them through training and mediums (aka rings). He was born with storm flames but not the others. Storms are born with a single flame with multiple elements (or if a single element with two cores).
Since you see in the beginning of canon that Gokudera merely uses storm flames, it's in the future that he uses rings (mediums) to properly utilize multiple flames and even then I believe he notes he has stronger and weaker flames.
Guest -"Well F YOU voices!" and "Another storm has been found! I hope you update soon!" and "Oh thank god you aren't quitting; I was really worried for a while! Also good luck with your internship!" and "ice-storm is also know blizzard."
My response: You know, the voices are right... He never did ask. / Thank you for your review, a new chapter is here! / No, you can't get rid of me that easily, sorry for worrying you. My intership was nice, I had a terrible collegue though, who missed about 30+ hours of intership and still got a pass. / Yes, Ice-Storms can also be called Blizzards but in this story they are too different flame types.
Kain Vixenheim -"Alright. Good luck. See you soon!"
My response: Thank you, hope you've liked the story so far.
snekdesu - "This is really really good! I love the character development and how the characters feel so alive. One thing that stands out to me though is that Elias seems a bit forced somehow? I can sympathize with her, but she just feels very distant.
I love love love how this story is going and all the melded history though, eagerly waiting for your next update!"
My response: OMG, I love the name. That sounds so cute (I have a best friend who loves snakes and is constantly doodling them everywhere), thank you for your review!
Hmm, yes, Elias has always been complicated for me to write, personally I don't find overly cheery personalities that fascinating and are more of a headache, but she gets better. Or, well, she's planned to get better over time.
Here's a new update for you!
naturefire -"This story is absolutely fantastic! Cant wait for more!"
My response: Thank you!
zeldawolffang -"everything was awesome till i saw yaoi D: (still reading though)"
My response: It's not going to be major relationship centred, maybe just a lot of blushes and flushed expressions, I said before and I stand by what I said, I have no idea on how to write romance. And it's ONE yaoi pairing. Out of I don't know how many, one isn't really a catastrophic number.
Glad you've kept reading though, hope you like the rest!
Shadekiller13 -"good intro, very blunt intro to the character..."
My response - I'm so very sorry, it seems like there was an error with your review, the one I received on my e-mail was shortened and the link I was supposed to use to read the full review is not working.
If you still have the review, I'd have no problem with you PM me it so I could reply to it.
As it is, I always believed it would have more impact if you jumped right into a story and not skim around the edges until you're ready to jump. And in SI-fics, I believe this is the best approach.
Because, unless it's a slow agonizing death, it happens fairly quickly.
Everything was frozen still. The world was merely a blank piece of paper, scribbles of dark ink on the white surface, with no emotions, no reactions, no color. Everything was quiet, sound was like something long forgotten, faded, non-existent.
My heartbeat was still, frozen just like the rest of them, and blood was cold in my veins.
Yet I was alive.
Yet I was warm.
Yet I saw how everything moved and shimmered.
Hidden colors, too much like secrets, peeking out of their souls, hazy shadows curled up around their shoulders.
A cloaked man standing not too far from me, his ever present grin, the one I usually always witnessed, was missing. In its place was a vaguely concerned frown, his shadowed eyes seemed sad, or perhaps angry, but I didn't pay them any mind.
My eyes focused solemnly on the blank sillhouette in front of me, the one I knew had two glaring golden orbs and a devastating cocky grin on his lips, the one that I had spent the last minutes observing and welcoming.
My eyes were locked on him. But, in this moment, I could see through him. The dark purple balls of fire that swirled with power and clashed against one another, two gladiators unwilling to back down from a challenge, the ever lasting battle in the chambers of Valhalla, the euforia of bloodlust and anticipation.
I could see it all, but I could not understand.
- Yo' will. - He said, with a chilling chuckle,- An' yo'll regret wantin' ta' kno'.-
I won't.
I wanted to tell him that. To shout it in his face if I had to.
Because this was my Storm, my Tormenta, and damned if I didn't find out how I could help him or get down to the bottom of this endless darkening spiral of sickening anger and hate.
I wanted to see light, the one at the end of the tunnel that made hope blossom and dreams be accomplished. I wanted it to be real, to hold the answers to my questions.
I wanted him to see it too.
For those weary golden eyes to look up and widen, then glisten with tears and heartfully be able to say, 'It's okay, now. Everything will be alright. It will be alright now.', but I couldn't.
Not alone.
So, with another heavy burden on my shoulders and another regret carved out inside my heart, I plunged not one, not two, but three weary souls into the darkening abyss of memories.
Memories so dark they could very well belong in Hell.
Memories no one should need to know...
To see...
To acknowledge...
To live with...
.
.
.
Time shuddered, a ripple passed through us, and with the deafning sound of thunder everything went back to how it was before.
Eyes blazed orange.
Eyes blazed blue.
And, with a single touch, a single grip on the dust covered shirt, his eyes blazed too.
Golden eyes widened and swirled for a moment before blazing with purple fire.
And somewhere deep within me, something arouse from its tired slumber, turned its shimmering eye upward and laughed, happily calling up to the sky.
"Welcome home! What took you so long?!"
One day and three hours before
Maybe telling Chiyo that she could fight Kyoya and a newly found Storm was a poor idea. The amount of excitement she had reflected in her pink eyes was enough to make me pause and shiver.
In fact, this whole thing was quickly becoming a thorn in my side. But I guess that's what one should expect when making a decision without really thinking it through.
Aah~
How was I going to get myself out of this mess?
On one hand I readily realized that this could work. Chiyo would obviously waste no time in rushing head first into the dangerous fray of fighting (and she bugged me about being too single minded in regards to certain subjects), leaving me to (try) tire Yurei alone.
But, on the other hand, this left me with the problem that a. I didn't really have a solid plan on how exactly I could tire Yurei out, and b. I was having doubts (again) about my ability to sort this out.
I knew, I truly did, that I had to step up and take charge of this mess. Yurei could not be allowed to stay in this state of... chaos, untrained and unfocused, a spiralling mess of anger and hate and fury that threatened to burn through any safety net we'd try and throw his way in order for him to either not oust us out into the limelight (like, hey, Storms here!) or to tear him apart from his family.
I was under no misconceptions that Yurei's family would not isolate him and, Kami forbid it, possibly even, turn him over to any type of asylum to the more... destructive-type of people.
I knew there was all sorts of drugs that could leave even the most strong-willed person a blubbering and drooling mess, and for the life of me I would lose my calm collected bearings if that was to ever happen to any of my Storms.
(Sometimes having memories of three people all jumbled out inside my head did me no favors)
Finally, I sighed and pushed away from me the sheet of paper I had been scribbling on, the small colorful dots I used to identify everyone without spelling out their names could easily pass off as a random childhood drawing that made no sense.
How wrong they would be.
(And how amusing it would be to look back on this papers and see, through older and wiser eyes, my many first attempts at codified messages and mission reports)
Chiyo was off somewhere, either outside running through an invisible (imaginary) obstacle course over and over again, or ambushing Takeshi around the shop, or tormenting Papa with the prolonged exposure to a clingy Seth around his ankles.
Or even worse, 'helping' clean up around the shop.
Chiyo was many things, and had the potential to be many more, but a careful person around glass and other fragile materials she was not.
Hence the unspoken reason as to why she was not allowed anywhere near, or in the close surroundings, of Mama's favorite tea set. The one that was kept tightly locked on the armoire in the back storage room, in a dark wooden box with the carvings of birds and leaves and flowers on the cover.
Not that I had ever removed it from said storage, such a thought was unthinkable.
... Honestly.
Anyway, I pushed the paper away and stood up from the low table on the playroom, put away the many, many missmatched pairs of pencils into a random box and tidy up the place, just enough so it would not be considered messy but also not really hard to mess it up again.
'Cuz I had enough faith in myself, and knowledge of my several shortcomings in regards to proper planning, to know I was going to have to return back to the drawing board in need of another plan or idea on how to deal with this.
After that was done I slinked away towards the dojo in the back of the store, the wooden creaked a bit under my foot as I stepped on a particular loose board without actually meaning to, one of those things that slips your mind due to you being so familiar with it, and walked up to the stand where two swords stood on display.
Fathers' sword and Natsumes' sword.
I pondered for a moment if I should kneel before the swords and think about things for a moment.
Take the whispers' advice and see things through a different point of view, perhaps even ask them for advice, but I disgarded the thought. At this precise moment I didn't want to stay put in one place any longer, instead...
I wanted to move.
I went off to the side and grabbed my shinai, the training bamboo sword, that was rather pitiously smaller than all the rest of the swords there were and took up the first stance Papa had taught me. My grip had to be arranged a few tries, my body having no muscle memory or previous recollection of having (ever) held a sword, and my feet tripped on themselves quite a lot as I kept practicing the motions Papa had instructed me to learn and review on.
They were simple.
They were standart motions.
Something any student learning the art of kendo learned very early on.
It was something so easy, so astonishingly easy, to accomplish...
That I failed miserably to keep focused.
I had the instinctive and childish emotion to whine and say that it was not my fault, that the sword was the one that was wrong. That the floor was uneven or that the world was against me learning the art of the sword, a million and one excuses that my mind could conjure up in its defense in case Papa asked what was wrong or the reason for my continued failures.
But I spoke nigh a word about those.
I didn't ignore them, not really, I knew that bottling up these emotions, these young uncontrolable urges to be as carefree and childish as this body biologically was, was a very wrong thing to do.
I knew that if I did that it was only going to lead to resentment or worse emotion stuntment or lack of entirely.
No, instead I did the best next thing.
I thrived in thinking up these excuses. I mocked them, like, 'Really? An uneven floor? Can't you make a better excuse?'. And I would pace back and forth in my mind with these discussions, arguements that made no sense to anyone, even less me, but that accomplished their role.
In the end, so distracted I would be, that I would be to preocupied in my own mind to worry about if I was doing the correct motions, or following Papa's instructions to the letter.
Because, for all that I loved Papa to bits, those instructions did not move me. They just bore me out of my mind and caused me to sigh internally. No, I worked best when I had no thought in what I was doing exactly.
So what, if I did not take a half-step backwards and knocked the invisible enemy shinai away with a simple twist of the wrist?
I tripped the bastard by randomly swirling out of the way and sticking my foot out at the worst possible time.
So what if I did not swing the shinai in a graceful arch that went over my head and strike right on the shoulder and arm of the enemy?
Instead I did a simple footwork and jabbed the pointy end on the curve of the man's chest, in that little spot I knew there was a small opening between the ribs that led right to the heart.
Papa would not approve of my 'flawed' motions of sword practice, but these were the motions that brought me out.
Isaia fought with a knife, hidden in shadows and silent as a grave, stalking behind opponents and striking even before they realize he was there.
Asa had never fought in her life, she simply did not possess the spirit to. Too broken and lost and weighted down to look up and say to herself, I can do this.
I held none of those despositions.
I refused to cower before others, I would not bow to another, refused to entirely, come hell or high water.
I also refused to play dirt and not allow my opponent the chance to fight back.
That portion of me I acklowledged as flawed in itself.
In this world, once the Storms' secret was out, there would not be many people that would give me that same benefict. Instead the rule would be, strike first and ask for forgiveness later.
And I knew that, I understood it, and I decided to hold the benefict of doubt regarding my final position in that matter for later.
In the six or seven years we had until Vongola showed up on our doorstep, many things could change.
"Natsu." A quiet but strong voice brought me back to the present.
I finished the motion I was performing and stood on attention, my eyes locking to the ones observing me. Their calm brown color held the twinge of regret and loss and the glow of pride, deep within them, and I smiled at my father.
"Yes, Papa?" I asked, wondering if he was either going to ask me what I was doing (here and what exactly was I practicing) or if he'd ask about Chiyo's good mood.
It was pretty much a toss up.
He kept quiet, his eyes weighed on me, and I barely refrained from fidgeting.
What was going on?
"What happened? What really happened when you went to Kyoya-kun's house?" He asked, in a quiet and somber tone.
Oh.
I swallowed on reflex.
This was problematic... I knew he had most certainly noted something was off, even if Chiyo or Takeshi didn't (if for different reasons), and would most likely ask me about it I, kind of, had hoped he wouldn't.
Because I couldn't outright lie to him.
I could give half-truths, no problem about that (I was an expert at giving half-truths), but I couldn't outright lie.
That's how liars get caught in the first place.
But in this precise moment, in a split second, I felt this burning sensation in my chest that said I wouldn't be able to worm my way out of this. And for all my gifts, pulling the wool from over someone that was/is trained to see through that... is not feasible.
At least, not right now...
And that left me with one other question I myself had to answer truthfully.
Did I want to lie to him?
Papa wasn't Vongola. He was a... retired hitman? I dunno, Asa's memories don't really touch on that and he was not a prominent charac-... person on those... memories. He could help me, us, figure this whole situation out. He was an ally, of sorts, in this whole mess.
But, of course there was a but, he was also my parent. (And didn't that bring up the awful realization that he was my only living parent.) And I knew well enough that parents would do anything for their children.
I'd witness it with Isaia.
I saw it through Asa.
And I was living it right now.
Parents do anything for their child, even if that meant doing the worst for them, namely locking me up or forbiding me from starting a fight that had the potential to grow out of hand pretty quickly.
... Who was I kidding, of course it was going to grow out of hand!
And that not outright frightened me but left me very uncomfortable. Because that meant I couldn't really trust him to keep a level head and keep things from perspective. Because he would worry.
He would not see me as the Temporale, he'd see me as his son.
And I wasn't his son.
.
(This is not my first life...)
.
(I was never meant to be born...)
.
I was the Temporale... Any other name or identity I have or had might as well be a mask.
No one exists, truly exists, other than the Temporale and the Storms. I would willingly keep this thoughts to myself and spare the others the heartbreak of these questions and answers but I could not hide from them.
I was tongue-tied.
How to say what I had to say, without saying what I wanted to say and have them hear what they wanted to hear?
There was no way around this.
No way to keep my tongue still without having him question my response, or to speak without causing him worry.
This is all too much...
I don't want this...
Too much...
I don't know what to say to him...
.
.
.
I want...
What do I want?
There's not place for me to go and hide, no matter how much I wish for it, and how sad is it that I want to hide from my own home?
This is MY home. This should be MY sanctuary, just like it had been before this whole thing started, but it's not.
Because I have to wear a mask even in here...
I can't talk to anyone in here without causing trouble for others.
- But there was a place where you had just that. - The whisper calmly said,- It seems unlikely that you've forgotten about it.-
The Prairie... With Vasco.
He couldn't understand me.
We spoke two different languages, out tongues could talk and spill our lives and worries and fears out to the world around us but neither would understand the other.
And yet... That was just how we understood each other best.
No mask. No fear. No lies.
I was free as a bird trapped in an illusion. The shackles still there, merely invisible, and that should bother me.
But I held no idealistic dream that 'freedom' existed for us Storms.
We would always be feared, even if subconsciosly, and it would be wrong (to us and them) to forget that. But maybe, instead of allowing that fear to guide and restrict us, we could... pretend nothing else but that small piece of paradise existed.
A world within a world.
A heaven within a hell.
"Natsu?" Father's voice breaks my line of thought," What happened?"
I look up to him, not really remembering when it was that I had lowered my head, and spoke softly, my voice sounding louder in the quiet room.
"I ran into Kyoya."
I ambushed him on the street. As a joke, of course.
"I went to his house."
He dragged me across town to his house for tea.
"We talked on our way there, he was... aloof."
He was distracted, he was worried, and I didn't know why or what to do.
"When we got to his house, I met someone."
There was chaos everywhere and I saw someone I had thought I wouldn't see in such place.
"I met his younger cousin, he's visiting."
I met Raniero again. (How many times has it been now?) He's staying confined in Kyoya's house.
"He was... intriguing."
He was wild, uncontrolled and quite frankly terrifying.
"We fought."
He attacked me on instinct.
"Kyoya stopped him, though."
Kyoya had to knock him down.
"He was... different... than other kids I've met."
He's special, Papa. So special, you have no idea.
"But... He hates me."
He can't control himself, he's in constant agony, and I don't know how to help him.
"And I don't want him to hate me."
I want to hug him and hide him from the world, to smother the hurt right out of him, I want to protect him.
"I... I want to be his friend."
I need him here. Safe.
Father's gaze stays locked with mine for a while, when he finally looks aways it's with a sigh and I feel the guilt of lying to him crawl all over my back and scratch at my heart.
"I'm sure everything will turn out alright, sport. So, why don't you go bother your brother and Chiyo for a little while?" He smiles.
I pull a smile over my mask, flinching at the crack in the mirror, and give him a quiet but happy reply.
"Okay!"
.
.
.
Nothing is okay... I need... I...
The rest of the day passed in an almost boring way.
We practiced using our abilities, and Takeshi was invited to go over some kids' house to play some game, he stayed over dinner and was returned a bit before bedtime.
And now, as I layed down to sleep and forget my worries about everything, my mind was going nuts.
Like a saw constantly buzzing, my ears rang and I felt constricted.
I couldn't breathe right.
The air weighted like stones down on me and I could only grip my sheets and close my eyes.
I was scared.
I was panicking.
And I knew exactly what to do in situations like these. I'd been through them before, this was nothing new.
Yet I did nothing to stop this from happening.
In a sick way of getting my thoughts out of my head I let my heart and lungs constrict and hurt.
I didn't want this.
But I also saw an exit to my troubles through it.
My thoughts just vanished, my mind grew quiet of whispers or taunts, though loud with buzzing and numbness.
Like I was drown-...
- NO! - A shout pierced through my head like a hot knife through butter,- This is NOT what you want!-
It isn't, is it? I know that.
- Then stop this! - It shouted.
Make me.
- ARGH! - The frustrated shout was warbbled and stressed.
All of a sudden there's this cold intake of hair in my lungs and this odd sensation on my forehead...
Light sprouts around me, like I had turned on a nightlight and it iluminated my bed and curtains.
Wait...
I look down on my arms, the scars I have there were thick and darker than they usually are... They look just like they did when I touched the fl-...
I look up at my forehead to see a mess of colorful flames sprouting from it. The flames are purple, but halfway through turn blue and the tips crackle green. As the flames move they shimmer a piercing orange.
I can almost hear the flames hum.
So strange...
- You are without a doubt the most ridiculously difficult and insufferable idiot, I've ever had to look after! - A voice, not whisper, said. It's tone indicated that it was not happy with me, not happy at all.
I turned, on instinct towards the voice, truly expecting to be faced with an empty space just like every time the whispers spoke.
I was not expecting to see a pure white fox, with no distinctive features other than a white porcelain mask on its' head, to be sitting primly at the foot of my bed.
.
.
.
What?
- Truly, in all my years of existence, I have never been faced with a Temporale as... as... puzzling as you! - The voi-... fox spoke. It's tone was soft but angry and annoyed, and I was startled to realize I recognized it.
The first whisper.
"You've got to be kidding me..." I muttered, my eyes dropping from their wide eyed state and I let my head fall back to my pillow.
- Do you have any idea of what you might've done?! - The fox angrily asked.
"No, and why should I know?" I answered," Do you expect me to have all the answers and solutions to everything?" I asked, eyes narrowing further.
- No, I do not. But I have the right to at least expect you to act your age and not like a child! - The fox said.
The urge to scream that I was a child was strong. Like nails on a chalkboard, the shriek almost left me, but I held back.
I wasn't a child. Not really...
And even if I was... I wouldn't be for long.
"How am I supposed to act? Like an all-knowing leader who shows no fear or hesitation? Who protects everyone without worrying about himself? Or like the greatest fighter this world has ever seen?" I sarcastically ask, eyes narrowing into slits and my already startling light eyes glowing brighter.
The fox was about to answer but I angrily cut it off.
"Well, news flash for you, I am none of those things!" I quietly scream at it, afraid of waking up Takeshi," I am scared, terrified of the thought of having to step out onto the streets and running into some random person who'll recognize me as a Storm."
"I live in constant fear that any one of us is going to mess something up and this quiet peace is going to shatter. I am scared that they are going to hurt someone, accidentally or not, because I know, somehow, that doing so is going to break them."
"I want to protect them, I want to be their shield, but by Kami I am scared that I'm going to die doing so. You know why?! Because, no matter how many times you say I am the Temporale, the strongest of the Storms and their leader, I'm... just me."
The last word was little more than a broken sob.
I want to cry, but I can't.
I want to break down and just curl up under a rock and hide, but I can't.
The others need me. They need me to be strong for them.
My family needs me to be there, to keep smiling and showing them that no matter what we can keep standing strong.
But...
I'm faltering. I'm doing little more than repeating the motions that are required of me and stumbling over the steps that I want to do. Because I don't know how to do them, and I have no one that can show them to me.
Isaia... Isaia is said, by the whispers, to be the epitome of what Temporales should be like.
Someone that went through everything life could through at it and kept going, coming out on top.
But what they forget was that Isaia got to the top because he was being supported by people who had had the same experiences as him.
Isaia was not the one that convinced Nero and Nico to join the two of them...
That was Pace.
Isaia found Nero and fought him. And they fought constantly for over a week before Pace turned to Nico and they stopped them and talked things through.
They are correct that it was Isaia that gave them the option to join them, but Pace was the one that kept the order.
At least until Isaia could do that on his own.
I don't have that.
Chiyo loves to fight and something in me tells me that burdening her with my problems is only going to make her feel worse.
Taro is NOT ready to know the full story about the Storms.
Elias... Elias is, strangely, sheltered. I really have no other word to describe it.
She is, by far, the most child-like out of all of us. Like nothing has ever went wrong for her and that is in itself a warning sign that I should keep a lookout for something.
Vasco.
Where to start with him?
First off, he's halfway across the globe. Secondly, he can't understand a word I'm saying, and third... Third, he can't help me.
Because I don't know him enough to burden him with my problems and expect him to shoulder them when I hold nothing for him.
I can't burden anyone, because they are already bearing so much over them.
I've taken their freedom.
I've taken their normal lives.
.
Why must I take their hope away too?
- You are an idiot. - The fox sighed.
"Takes one to know one." I grumble, half heartedly, feeling exhausted.
- This is unlike you... - The fox murmured quietly,- A side I've never seen.-
"I'm always like this..." I say, and ain't that just a fantastic realization.
- No, not this you. - The fox replies,- The you I know is always... less emotional, let's say.-
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused and rather dreading its' answer.
- The you I know has always had a more calculating impersonal perspective on things that were not the Storms," The fox said,- I believe the saying was 'You lose some, to gain some'? You always sacrificed something in order to bring the better outcome of the situation.-
"That's not me." I say.
- No, that is the furthest thing possible from this you. - The fox nods,- And I guess this should become a learning experience for all of us.-
"A learning experience?" I choke," You're going to treat this as some sort of experience?!"
- No. - The fox barks,- I am going to treat this as a completely new, never witnessed before event, in which I have no idea of the possible outcome. If that makes you feel better. - It adds the last part with a shrug.
I blink at it.
I close my eyes and groan, my hand coming up to touch the shimmering flames that are slowly diminishing.
Just great.
It can't get any worse than this.
.
.
.
Right?
Come morning, the fox was gone and the whispers were quiet.
And I had absolutely no idea of what I was going to do. Chiyo was bouncing off the walls and Takeshi was starting to feel curious about the reason why, while Papa was starting to look at me suspitiously.
That's the last thing I need.
So, I did what I have always done best.
(And still do.)
I winged it.
I called Taro's house, sweet-talked his mother into letting him come play at our house by himself (so we could meet him on the way here and change paths to Kyoya's) and then, after much consideration, I called Elias.
My words changed a bit, and by now I've forgotten what it was I said exactly, but the gist of it was that, 'Hey, we are about to do something really stupid and dangerous without a single backup plan, I'd appreciate if you could come but you don't have to. Oh, and if you do please bring a first aid-kit. Gut feeling, you know?'
And that was how she showed up at my house not a full ten minutes later with a small medical backpack (disguised as a pink flower) and this kind smile on her face, that totally did not make a whimper escape me.
And with a cheery wave at Papa and Takeshi off we went to our doom.
Taro was confused by everything and I honestly did not have to courage to tell him what was going on, and let him sweat it all while Chiyo was crackling like a mad-woman from right beside him.
Elias was giving me looks, which I pointedly ignored, and after a while just sighed and cocked her head to the side, as if she was listening to something far off.
Just like before, the walk down to Kyoya's house was surprisingly short, with the comic effect that Taro paled drastically once he saw where we were headed exactly.
With a last wave goodbye to my sanity, I knocked on the wooden door and waited until a disgruntled Kyoya opened the door, there was the muffled sounds of trashing around going on in the background and Taro (who most certainly heard it) swayed dizzily, Chiyo's grip on his shoulder and the blinding grin she had on her face did not help either.
Kyoya's eyes focused on me, then on the rest of my party and his nose wrinkled.
Oh, yeah... Crowding.
"Hey, Kyoya! We came to play with Yurei, he's here right?" I smiled.
Kyoya twitches, his eyes focus on me again, and his eyebrow rises up to his hairline.
I could pratically sense his incredulity.
"I'm not joking, I even brought Chiyo for good measure, and Elias for patching up." I kept smiling.
Finally, Kyoya's lip curls just the slightest, and he steps away to give us entry.
"Finally ready to turn into a carnivore?" He lightly asks.
"Nope, I have no idea of what I'm doing right now." I then smile even more brightly," But it's just a game, how bad can it be?"
Kyoya's answering smirk did little to comfort Taro, who looked seconds away from passing out.
"Natsu! Natsu, what's going on?" Taro was shaking me, desperation in his eyes.
"Oh, you know... Kyoya's cousin is a Storm (Yeah, I know, surprise!) and he's not... cooperative, let's say, so we, that is you, Chiyo and I are going to run circles around him, tire him out and then sit on him and make him be friends!" I answer him with the most serious expression I could pull off without breaking down into laughter.
We were so dead.
And it just felt... hilarious.
The irony of the situation was lost on me, personally, but I was sure that this was karma.
Taro's response was little better than my own.
"You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're joking." He whispered, eyes wide as saucers.
"Nope~! Sorry, Taro-chan~ We are going to fight!" Chiyo's happy grin and excited little dance was very amusing, or well... It would be if it was in any other situation that did not involve us basically face off against a kid who would waste no thought about beating us to the ground.
"Now, before you freak out, Taro. You are not going to be on the offensive, that's all Chiyo, I need you to try and shield Chiyo and to create as many ice barriers as you can before you exhaust yourself to keep Yurei as furthest away as you can from us." I instruct the scared boy.
"Chiyo, your job is to tire him out the fastest you can, under no circunstance are you to engage in close combat, do you understand?" I waited until I had her nod to continue," Yurei is strong, not physically strong but Storm strong, if he hits you, physically hits you, your best bet will be a broken bone if not worse." I somberly told her.
"That warning goes to all of us, we are not to get close to Yurei. If he's within range you turn tail and flee, do you both understand that?" I ask them.
I see their nods, Taro's terrified expression and Chiyo's calculating one.
"I'm going to stay right by Taro's side, Chiyo, so I have full trust in your abilities, hence why I asked Seth to come along, which is why I'm letting you take offenive all by yourself. Taro needs to have someone backing him up, otherwise Yurei would pounce on him in a flash, and I honestly hope to come out of this one with minimal injuries." I say.
"Elias and Kyoya are both staying on the sidelines of this one, Elias to get us out if any one of us is injured, like if you can't get back up again, and Kyoya will intervene if it gets too much out of hand, he said it would look back if a bunch of kids died in his backyard." I smile ruefully.
Taro manages a weak smile in response.
Chiyo just pouts.
"Finally, the reason need to tire him out is because, once he's tired out it will be easier to approach him. This is still a game of 'tag', or so everyone else in this household believes, and that is also our cover-story once we go back home (before or after having to be carried out to the hospital), so I, as the leader, have to 'tag' him to end the game." I explained.
"And for Yurei to 'win' he needs to 'tag' you?" Taro asks.
"Yes, and that's where it gets complicated, I've already met Yurei, and last time he lost no time in pouncing on me to tear me apart, so Chiyo, you have to be ready to attack as soon as he walks out of those doors, and Taro... Get a shield ready." I sigh.
We all step out into the big backyard that was the definition of traditional japanese and I winced at the thought of how damaged it would be by the end of this. Elias and Kyoya were sitting on the porch, with Kyoya driking tea calmly (the nerve of him) with two hesitant maids holding a door closed.
At my nod, Kyoya made a quick gesture and the maids let the door slam open.
Yurei's angry eyes locked with mine and for a second nothing happened.
And then he grinned...
Ten minutes.
In ten minutes I could no longer describe this scenario other than utter chaos. Sand was spilling everywhere, with snakes striking out as soon as the wild golden eyed boy moved in and out of the frey.
Chiyo was completely focused, a rare sight, and the grin she had on her lips, so similar to Yurei's own, was terrifying. Her hair was messy and windswept, her clothes dirty and sandy from more than a drop and roll technique she had used to dodge one of Yurei's attacks.
Yurei was the same, if slightly more sandy, and he wasn't showing any signs of slowing down.
I was getting worried that fighting him was only feeding into his power.
Adrenaline in a Storm was not something to take lightly.
Taro was doing a great job, I felt really proud of how far he'd come since the first time he tried to use his abilities, creating barriers or small bumps hidden in the sand that tripped Yurei, letting one or two snakes strike out. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a range yet and I noticed he was growing tired quickly.
Worrying.
I'd have to up on stamina training.
Severely.
Not that I was doing much better, my abilities had yet to manifest outside of my mind or in actual combat, with the only actual evidence of their destructive power having been done on adrenaline fueled emotional breakdown, that helped no one in this situation.
Hence why I was merely weaving in and out of attacks directed at me, and pulling Taro around to keep him safe.
And although I was confident we could win this.
I was growing tired too.
Ten minutes.
I felt upset that we were lasting so little time, if we faced off against the mafia ten minutes would be a death sentence. We had to become stronger, we had to become faster.
We needed to be able to do more than just dodging and throwing random attacks and hoping they'd hit.
We needed more.
And when I saw Chiyo stumble and fall, the gleam in Yurei's eyes as he was about to jump on the opening she had given him, I knew...
We needed more NOW.
I took off running, perhaps the subconscious part of me remembered to not leave a teammate behind since my hand clamped down on Taro's and I dragged him with me, and I was counting the seconds it would take for him to strike her against the ones it would take me to reach them.
The odds weren't looking good.
And I just willed it, I just... thought...
If, in this very moment, I was to do something... I wanted to reach him.
I wanted to grab him by the shirt and shake him out of his funk, to yell at him that I was here and that he had no need to be afraid.
We'd look out for him.
I did not notice my eyes blazing, I took no notice of the flames that burst out of my forehead and I saw little to none of the reactions that caused around me, I merely saw Chiyo turn wide eyed at me, Yurei to flinch and take notice that I was right there, his grin and golden eyes victorious before the world turned black and white.
.
.
.
It was like a fairy tale, one could say... With merely a touch everything just turned out okay. Our happy ever after ending.
.
But I know better. We know better.
Because we have to, we cannot believe such childish fantasies.
We know...
.
.
.
There's no happy ever after.
The day ended in screaming.
And I am done.
Another chapter, last as usual, is over and I am... back?
Dunno, my muse as been awfully missing these past few days, and my head has been killing me. But my intership (the first) is officially over, and until November you have me full time (I'm dismayed over the fact that the next intership runs from November-March. That's really long.)
Sorry for my absence, I know you guys were freaking out, I was too.
This chapter, huh, turned out confusing. And depressing, really sorry about that. It's... needed?
I dunno how to explain it, the next few chapters are going against my plans, I'm deviating from my original planning of taking things slowly and start speeding the important parts of Part II up, like the start of actual training, with an actual instructor and fighting.
Other than that, the reason for the more somber parts is coming up. Natsu now knows they're inside KHR and that changes everything, because whereas before he could ignore something now he cannot, because he knows that that something is going to be important.
Natsu's reactions and emotional turmoil is going to have its ups and downs. Biologically Natsushi is three years old, going on four, and his body reacts to things like any child would.
But mentally, and here's the kicker, he's (doing quick math) 18 going on 19. Asa was 16, she already had her problems, and she was traumatised by what happened, remembering his own death that young was traumatising, and even if he doesn't show it, he needs a shoulder to cry on.
Had Mariko not died, she would've been able to comfort him, because a mothers' comfort is something words can't really explain, but with her death on top of his own disturbing discovery just piled more things on top of him.
And them come the responsabilities of being the Temporale.
Knowledge that no child should have.
And the fact that he must toe the line regarding what he does or says. He can't just tell someone what is happening, because (and that's perhaps what's sadder) he does not know who to trust.
You must remember that, same as most of us that don't remember KHR with 100% accuracy on how exactly everything went, to background characters to scenery or even how the thought bubbles looked like, Asa doesn't either.
And Asa read KHR when she was around 12 years old. And never again touched that series.
If it was a character or plot that was really important, Asa might remember it, but with time the memories are faded and Natsu is freaking out because, like he said, if he changes something there's no way knowing what that will do.
He's drowning in all this responsability and expectation, because, even if he'd like it to be otherwise, he's still a child. And he never had a chance to grow up normally.
He's an emotional wreck and he has no clue how to deal with that. But he keeps going, because he does not want to quit.
He wants to stand up and say, Screw you to the world and keep going.
That is to say, he's going to get better later, for now he's angsty.
And he does work things out.
Now, the fox.
There's been indications before that Natsu is not like other past Temporales. He's very unlike his uncle, which joined Vongola because he did not want to die, while Natsu would've laughed and said 'Be my guest, you still ain't gonna have me' with a smirk.
And he alternates between being much like Isaia, and the opposite of what Isaia was like.
There's the scene where Isaia fries Lampo's attackers the first time they met without batting an eye, Natsu wouldn't have done that, for example.
Though he would've very much saved Giotto the save way Isaia did.
And that confuses and annoys the voices, because they need to guide him, but if he's not like what they expected him to be like, they're back to square one.
But it also scares them. So far, Natsu has been the youngest Temporale to awaken his abilities, since most do it around the ages of seven or ten. That means, problems the voices would have to advise on are a long way coming and the problems he has now have never been dealt with before.
Okay, so next chapter we'll continue on.
We'll see what happened at the end of this chapter, and the rammification of what they just done.
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